Paintbrush101: Investing on Curiosity

Painting is one of the most fun activities that can unleash the creative and most imaginative side of a human brain. Unlike calligraphy or any form of art that may define an artist to letters or words, the paintbrush opens a wide space of how an artist can deliver her message.

I am not a painting expert, in fact I am just starting out. But here’s my enthusiasm in sharing every single lesson and skill I get to learn through my Paintbrush 101 blog entries.

The first step to gaining and/or developing a new skill is to put your heart’s desire into action. What do I mean? If you want to learn, you need to get out of bed and start to work things out. Get a good mentor, study good books, buy the materials you need, and start exercising the brush strokes. I started painting and drawing when I was in grade school. My father, who is an art-fanatic, taught me the basics. Because of changes in priorities, I have stopped investing my time on art and spent my years on academics and other extra-curricular activities. Few years later (that was two years ago), cheesy as it may sound, my interest in painting was awaken because of Typhoon Glenda that hit Manila. I couldn’t use my laptop for work because there was no electricity and my roommates and I couldn’t go out because of the strong wind, so we ended up doodling and sketching to entertain ourselves. The storm has passed, and the next thing I know I was at the nearest Fullybooked and spent 300pesos for my first set of art weapons. It’s not as expensive as any national artist might be spending but I think it’s just enough an investment for a starter. I bought 10 colors, a watercolor-pad, and of course a paintbrush.

I was on my first page and I still didn’t know what I wanted to paint so I have let my hands and judgement lead me after seeing a photo of two birds in the art section of the bookstore. For the record, the photo below shows my first painting on my first ever 24sheet, 190 by 270mm watercolor pad. The idea is half-baked but I can give the assurance that the artwork isn’t.

Title: Branch out!

I shared this to my friends and they told me it really isn’t bad for a first.  I guess this is one of the things that truly justified my few and selected aggressive moves –that is, investing on curiosity. The curiosity to see how far I can go. This photo kicked-off the next colorful pages of my pad and I can’t wait to share them on my next blogs.

What interests you the most? What keeps you being curious? What is stopping you from pursuing it? 🙂